Pokhara Thunders became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of the Nepal Super League after they defeated misfiring Butwal Lumbini 1-0 in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Moses Gyahaah Twum scored in stoppage time to ensure Pokhara progress with a match in hand as the victory gave the leaders 14 points from seven games—five points ahead fourth-placed Kathmandu Rayzrs, who have nine points.

Dhangadhi are second in the nine-team standings with 12 points and can qualify if they defeat or draw with Jhapa on Wednesday.

Lalitpur are in the third position with 10 points after out-of-contention Sporting Ilam shocked them 1-0 earlier in the afternoon.

It was a game of two halves at the Dasharath Stadium where Butwal dominated the first half and created several chances but they still lacked the killer touch to find the net.

Butwal’s Gilespye Jung Karki and Stephane Samir Binong were the most visible and combined on a number of occasions, but the pair could not work their way to breaking the deadlock.

Junk Karki almost got the breakthrough in the ninth minute when his lofted shot forced Pokhara goalkeeper Guillaume Yves Priso to backtrack and stretch to make a fingertip save.

Binong also reached closer to scoring on three occasions but the Cameroon forward was wasteful at goal on each occasion.

Jung Karki seemed comfortable when on the ball he also lacked the firepower to trouble netkeeper Priso.

Pokhara was kept quiet most of the first 45 minutes as Butwal defenders had their star forward Ayush Ghalan in the pocket all evening.

In fact, Pokhara’s best and the only chance of the first half came in the fifth minute of the added time when Stephen Kojo Annor almost caught Butwal’s Mohamodou by surprise with a lofted volley after the goalkeeper’s poorly attempted punch fell straight to Annor.

Pokhara were a revitalised side after the break, with dangerman Twum threatening the box time and again.

Twum went close to finding the lead in the first ten minutes of the second half. He first pounced on a defensive error from Butwal defender Thierry Biyik inside the area but mistimed his shot. The Ghanaian then had an opportunity to draw the first blood when goalkeeper Priso’s faulty punch landed on his path but Twum headed wide.

Pokhara’s Sanjeeb Bista should have given his side the lead in the 65th minute after Ghalan broke free of Butwal confinement to put him one-on-one with Mohamodou but Bista wasted it.

Butwal also terrorised the Pokhara box with a 68th minute counter attack. Ashish Lama engineered the assault to feed Nirajan Dhami who laid the ball for Binong but the Cameroonian squandered the opportunity.

Pokhara continued the attack in search of a decisive goal in the final minutes, with Joe Aidoo testing Mohamodou with a powerful long-ranged effort that nicked the palm of the goalkeeper before going off the post.

And Moses had the final say in the first minute of the injury time with a cool finish, thanks to another piece of brilliance from Ghalan who put Moses through at goal with a perfectly-weighted pass.

The defeat left Butwal in the seventh position with seven points from seven matches, meaning their hopes of making the playoffs suffered a nasty blow.

Earlier at the Dasharath Stadium, Ilam wrapped up their Nepal Super League campaign on a positive note after Fode Camara’s 59th minute goal gave them their second victory of the season.

Camara took advantage of a reckless defending from Omolaja Nurain Kareem and put the ball past Lalitpur goalkeeper Jeffery Willy Marcel.

The win gave Ilam eight points after playing all their matches.

Despite the defeat, Lalitpur still have a chance to secure their position in the top four but face an unhill task against holders Kathmandu in their final group match on Saturday.